Paganism is the belief in a religion other than that of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. The word "Pagan" comes from the Latin words paganus and pagana, meaning "country dweller or villager” (online). Today, "Paganism" has two meanings: the earth-centered spiritual traditions of many cultures, both modern and historical, and modern revivals of ancient Pagan religions of Europe and the Middle East. Pagans used to live in fourth-century Rome. Pagans are individuals or members of a group who accept the principles of, or who practice Paganism and worship nature. Animism, one of the oldest forms of Paganism, believed the concept that all objects in nature possess soul. These mostly illiterate people also believed that spirit guardian controlled all objects in nature (Jordan 18-19).

Common beliefs of Paganism are: 1) The Earth is a place of joy and beauty, to be respected and held sacred. Harming oneself, oth

Gradually, Christianity took over the Pagan traditions and elements, transformed and made them into their own. They substituted Christian Saints for Pagan deities, built Churches over Pagan Holy sites, and transferred magic powers over to Christian priests (online).

ers, or nature is to be avoided. 2) Humans are meant to lead lives filled with joy, love, pleasure, and humor; and to have the wisdom and ability to solve their problems on all levels, public and private, without the need for spiritual "salvation." 3) Ideas are to be personally investigated before being accepted as faith. Dogma is to be minimized. Pagans are reluctant to accept any idea without personally investigating it (online).

The Pagan ceremonies transformed into Christian holidays. Christmas, being the best known of those holidays, replaced the birthday celebration of the Sun God. Even statues like that of Demeter with the small Dionysus got reinterpreted as Mary and Jesus. Paganism no longer could handle the stamina and inner drive to resist the pressure of Christianity, with its strong, well-organized church and its positive monotheistic (belief in one God) creed, encompassing faith and ethics (online). Eventually, Christianity outlawed Paganism entirely, thus forming the Inquisition. Many “heretics” and wise-woman died through torture, hanging, and burning (online). People used the phrase “The Burning Times" to describe this horrendous

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